Buddhist communities of Nepal

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Influence of Buddhism in Nepal

Newar Buddhism is a form of Vajrayana influenced by Theravada Buddhism and is the oldest known form of the Vajrayana tradition and is significantly older than the Tibetan Buddhism.

Many Buddhist groups are also influenced by Hinduism.

Among the Tibeto-Burman-speaking peoples, Tibetan Buddhism is the most widely practiced form.

Buddhism is the dominant religion of the thinly populated northern areas, which are inhabited by Tibetan-related peoples, namely:

• Sherpa
• Lopa
• Manangi
• Thakali
• Lhomi
• Dolpa
• Nyimba.

They constitute a small minority of the country’s population.

Bhotiya

Bhotiya or Bhot are groups of ethno-linguistically related Tibetan people living in the Transhimalayan region that divides India from Tibet. The word Bhotiya comes from the classical Tibetan name for Tibet, བོད, bod. The Bhotiya speak numerous languages including Ladakhi. The Indian recognition of such language is Bhoti / Bhotia having Tibetan scripts and it lies in the Parliament of India to become one of the official languages through Eighth Schedule of the Indian Constitution.

Bhutia

The Bhutia are a community of Sikkimese people living in the state of Sikkim in northeastern India, who speak Drenjongke or Sikkimese, a Tibetic language fairly mutually intelligible with standard Tibetan. In 2001, the Bhutia numbered around 60,300. Bhutia here refers to people of Tibetic ancestry. There are many clans within the Bhutia tribe and Inter-Clan marriages are preferred rather than marriages outside of the tribe.

Gurung people

The Gurung people, also called Tamu, are an ethnic group in the hills and mountains of Gandaki Province of Nepal. They live in Manang, Mustang, Kaski, Lamjung, Parbat, Dolpo and Syangja, Dhading districts, with a population of 522,641 people as of 2011. They speak the Sino-Tibetan Gurung language.

Lepcha people

The Lepcha are among the indigenous peoples of the Indian state of Sikkim and Nepal, and number around 80,000. Many Lepcha are also found in western and southwestern Bhutan, Tibet, Darjeeling, the Province No. 1 of eastern Nepal, and in the hills of West Bengal. The Lepcha people are composed of four main distinct communities: the Renjóngmú of Sikkim; the Dámsángmú of Kalimpong, Kurseong, and Mirik; the ʔilámmú of Ilam District, Nepal; and the Promú of Samtse and Chukha in southwestern Bhutan.

Newar people

Newar or Nepami, are the historical inhabitants of the Kathmandu Valley and its surrounding areas in Nepal and the creators of its historic heritage and civilisation. Newars form a linguistic and cultural community of primarily Indo-Aryan and Tibeto-Burman ethnicities following Hinduism and Buddhism with Nepalbhasa as their common language. Newars have developed a division of labour and a sophisticated urban civilisation not seen elsewhere in the Himalayan foothills. Newars have continued their age-old traditions and practices and pride themselves as the true custodians of the religion, culture and civilisation of Nepal. Newars are known for their contributions to culture, art and literature, trade, agriculture and cuisine. Today, they consistently rank as the most economically, politically and socially advanced community of Nepal, according to the annual Human Development Index published by UNDP. Nepal’s 2011 census ranks them as the nation’s sixth-largest ethnicity/community, with 1,321,933 Newars throughout the country.

Sherpa people

Sherpa is one of the ethnic groups native to the most mountainous regions of Nepal and the Himalayas. The term sherpa or sherwa derives from the Sherpa language words Shar (“east”) and Wa (“people”), which refer to their geographical origin of eastern Nepal.

Tamang people

The Tamang are an tibeto ethnic group originating in Tibet. In Nepal Tamang/moormi people constitute 5.6% of the Nepalese population at over 1.3 million in 2001, increasing to 1,539,830 as of the 2011 census. Tamang people are also found in significant numbers in the Indian state of Sikkim and districts of Darjeeling and Kalimpong in West Bengal state of India and various districts in the southern foothills of the Kingdom of Bhutan. Such districts include the Tsirang District, the Dagana District, the Samtse District, the Chukha District, the Sarpang District and the Samdrup Jongkhar District. Tamang tibeto language is the fifth most spoken language in Nepal.

Bania (Newar caste)

Bania is a Nepalese caste from the Newar community of the Kathmandu Valley in Nepal. The name Bania is derived from the Sanskrit word vanijya (merchant); by preference, Bania (caste).

Yolmo people

The Hyolmo are an people mainly from the Eastern and Northern Himalayan Regions of Nepal. They refer to themselves as the “hyolmo” or “Yolmopa” and are native residents of the Helambu valleys and the surrounding regions of Northeastern Nepal. Their combined population in these regions is around 11,000. They also have sizeable communities in Bhutan, Darjeeling, Sikkim and some regions of South-Western Tibet. They are among the 59 indigenous groups officially recognized by the Government of Nepal as having a distinct cultural identity and are also listed as one of the 645 Scheduled Tribes of India.